Pastor Scott L. Harris
Grace Bible Church, NY
December 24, 2025
The Responses to the Incarnation
Selected Scriptures
Introduction
The Christmas season brings a wide range of emotions in people, and often a mix even within an individual. The mythologies that have developed around Santa Claus who brings lots of toys for girls and boys creates a great excitement and anticipation among kids, while adding stress and debt to their parents if they are not careful. The time off work for the holidays enable the extended family to gather and spend time with each other. That is a great source of joy for most families, perhaps especially so for those that live at a distance from each other. At the same time, that can be a source of misery for dysfunctional families. Christmas can be very confusing for non-Christians as secular mythologies are combined with portions of the Biblical narratives to create a syncretic mess that makes no sense. David Sampagnaro told a story last week about an American couple that had traveled to rural China to adopt two little girls where they were greeted warmly by a welcome banner and a display of Santa Claus hanging on a cross in an attempt to show respect for them.
For Christians, Christmas is a joyous season as we celebrate in many different ways the wonder of the incarnation, God becoming flesh in the man Jesus Christ. Yet even for us, sadness ranging from melancholy to depression can creep in because there will be a friend or family member that will not be part of those celebrations this year.
Over the last few decades I have rotated through a series sermons for our Christmas Eve Services designed to prod us to think a little more deeply and respond a little more thoughtfully to celebrating Christmas by looking at the responses of the people that are part of the narratives in Matthew and Luke concerning the birth of Jesus.
Responses to Jesus’ Birth
Zacharias was the first to receive news of the coming Messiah when the angel Gabriel announced to him that he and his wife Elizabeth, though they were old, would have a son who was to be named John, and he would be the one coming in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare the way for the Lord. His initial response was disbelief for which Gabriel caused him to lose his voice until John was born. But when John was born, Zacharias broke forth in praise of God and prophecy concerning his son and the Messiah who would soon arrive.
Mary’s response was wonder and then full submission to the Lord when Gabriel visited her in Nazareth and announced she would miraculously conceive in her womb through the power of the Holy Spirit. This was dangerous for Mary since it could jeopardize her betrothal to Joseph and could result in being ostracized in her community. Yet she exalted the Lord and rejoiced in God, and counted it a great privilege and blessing to be used of God in this way.
Elizabeth also rejoiced when Mary visited her when John and Jesus were both in their respective wombs. By the Holy Spirit Elizabeth even revealed that John “leaped in my womb for joy” when the sound of Mary’s greeting reached her ears.
Joseph’s first response when he found out Mary was pregnant was to quietly end his betrothal to her. Certainly there was hurt and sadness in this. How would you have felt? It took an angel telling him in a dream about the truth of Mary’s pregnancy to change his mind to take her as his wife and protect and provide for her and the child. That would put his own reputation at risk and it would be an awesome responsibility. It is hard enough to raise a son, but how do you do that when it is the Son of God and you will be held responsible for being his earthly dad? Yet Joseph did not hesitate after learning the truth.
The angel announced the news of Jesus’ birth to the shepherds in the field with the heavenly host then joining in proclaiming “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” The shepherd’s responded by immediately seeking out Joseph, Mary and Jesus who was lying in a manger. They then went out proclaiming what they had heard and seen to all who would listen.
On the eighth day the child was named Jesus according the instructions given by Gabriel. On the thirty-third day Joseph & Mary took Jesus and traveled the five miles to the temple in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon, who was old, that he would see the Lord’s Christ before he would die. He was guided by the Spirit to Jesus whom he took into his arms and he then blessed God saying, 29 “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; 30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation, 31 Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 A Light of revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.” Simeon responded with joy and gratitude. As Simeon was still speaking, the prophetess Anna, an 84 year old widow, “came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”
Matthew 2 records the response of the magi. Daniel had at one time been appointed the head of this group of wise men (Dan. 2:48; 4:9), and from him they would have learned the prophecies of the Hebrews including Numbers 24:17, “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A star shall come forth from Jacob, A scepter shall rise from Israel, And shall crush through the forehead of Moab, And tear down all the sons of Sheth.” They had been paying attention to the signs in the heavens for generations, and when they saw a unique star, they traveled to Jerusalem seeking “He who has been born king of the Jews.” Being told by the chief priests and scribes that the prophet had written He would be born in Bethlehem, they went there and found Him in a house with Mary His mother whereupon they worshiped Him and gave gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
The response of everyone one mentioned so far has been positive. Even for Mary and Joseph who had the potential of very negative temporal consequences of her pregnancy with Jesus, the announcement of the coming of Messiah or proclamation of His arrival resulted in joy, praise, exaltation and worship. And note that those were not responses lasting just a brief time. Their lives were changed from that point on. That still should be the response of everyone who seeks after God and learns the truth about Jesus and the hope that came with His first advent. A Savior has been born, who is Christ the Lord, who would save His people from their sins. That is a truth that transcends the circumstances of life however good or bad they may be. That is the reason for Christians to rejoice not only at Christmas time, but at all times regardless of the situations in life they may be facing. That is not automatic since circumstances can at times seem overwhelming, but it is the response that is generated as we step back to see the bigger picture from God’s perspective to cast all of our anxiety upon Him knowing that He cares for us and loves us as proven at Calvary. We gain perfect peace as we yield to trust God in all of our situations in life. That is why Paul could say, Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice (Phil 4:4).
Those that do not seek God do not have such a response. Herod was a jealous man, and when the wise men told him that they were looking for He who has been born king of the Jews, Herod “was troubled and all Jerusalem with him” (Matt. 2:2-3). Herod had murdered his own relatives in order to protect any possible threat to his throne, so it is not surprising that when the Magi did not return to report to Herod where they had found Jesus because they had been warned in a dream to go home a different way, Herod sent and slew all the male children in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under. Don’t be surprised when the truth about Jesus’ results in evil people responding with some form of evil. Most often that is blasphemy as they seek to counter the truth with the lies they have heard and believe. That is common among atheists, agnostics and those in Christian cults. However, it could escalate to direct persecution of those who proclaim the truth which is seen more commonly by the zealots of false religions.
As bad as Herod’s response was, perhaps the response of the religious leaders was worse. They knew the truth but were indifferent to it. They did not want to be disturbed. They were comfortable in what they were doing and did not want to acknowledge anything that might change that. They did not respond until 30 years later when Jesus’ teachings began to expose their erroneous doctrines, religious practices, hypocrisy and then cut into the money they were making by swindling the people who came to the temple to worship God.
Tragically, too often there are similar reactions among those who profess to be Christians but are either very immature or not true Christians. They are going through the religious motions Sunday after Sunday with their worship having little or no impact on the way they actually live their lives. Their actual character remains largely unknown to others until something exposes it – a convicting sermon, a confrontation over an ungodly habit, a challenge to walk in truth and holiness beyond what they are willing to do. They may simply depart proving they were not really of us (1 John 2:19), or they may strive to cause dissension and hindrances contrary to Biblical truth (Rom. 16:17), or prove to be wolves by causing factions by trying to lead others astray in following them (Acts 20:28-30). Wolves will slander godly leadership in order to achieve their goals (2 Cor. 11).
Don’t let the cultural pressures of the Christmas season rob you of the joy that should be central to it by shifting you away from the actual reason for the celebration of it. You may even now be thinking about all you still have to do tonight or all that has to be done tomorrow. Slow down. Take a breath. And remember that Jesus actually is the reason for the season, then keep that in mind as you do whatever else you still need to do and throughout all your activities tomorrow. There is one more response to the incarnation I want you to consider that I know can help you with this.
The Response of Jesus to the Incarnation
We usually do not think about the response of Jesus to His birth to Mary in Bethlehem, and what would a baby’s response to being born be? Well, the normal response of a human infant is some immediate unhappiness because the infant just left a wonderfully warm and comforting environment and has suffered some trauma in being thrust into a completely different environment that is bright and noisy and cold. That is a reason to swaddle the infant fairly quickly. But then soon thereafter comes the cycle of hunger, sleep and need for a diaper change. Since Jesus was fully human, it is reasonable to think it would have been the same for Him. Luke 2:52 expresses some of the aspects Jesus’ humanity in stating that as a child “Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”
But Jesus is also fully God, so we can know what Jesus thought about it from both prophecies looking forward to the incarnation and Scriptures looking back at it to comment on its purposes. There is a lot that probably could be said about this, but I am going to keep this short by restricting it to just a few major points and then making some practical applications from it.
First, the incarnation was a plan determined within the triune Godhead – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – that extends back to eternity past because the plan of salvation extends back that far and the incarnation is an integral part of that. Ephesians 1:4 states that “He [God] chose us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.” That matches what Jesus said in His parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25:34 that the kingdom was prepared from the foundation of the world for those blessed of God the Father. Paul states in 2 Timothy 1:9 that God saved and called us “according to His own purpose and grace which was granted in Christ Jesus from all eternity.” The plan of salvation was known to Jesus from eternity past, so for Him, the incarnation was simply a necessary step toward its completion.
The purpose of the first advent was to bring about the redemption of man. There would have to be an atoning sacrifice to pay the penalty of man’s sin, and that sacrifice would have to be a man because the life of an animal was not a sufficient substitute. That human sacrifice would also have to be sinless himself otherwise his death would simply be the just deserved penalty of his own sin instead of a substitute payment for someone else’s sin. In order to be sinless, that human would have to avoid the inherited curse of sin inherited from Adam passed down to each generation through the father, so that human would have to be miraculously born of a woman apart from a human father. And that sacrifice would have to have an infinite value otherwise the sacrificial death would only atone for one sin for one person. The incarnation resolved all those issues. Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit to be born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, and then because He is also fully God the value of His sacrificial death is infinite and so sufficient to atone for the sins of all people.
Jesus knew all of this prior to the incarnation, yet as Philippians 2:5-8 points out, He willingly submitted to the entire plan from the beginning. 5 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
We also get glimpses into both His deity and the willing submission of His humanity to the plan of salvation. When He was still a child, perhaps about 12 years old, he spent days in the temple amazing the teachers with His understanding and answers knowing the temple was the proper place for Him to be for it was His Father’s house (Luke 2:46-49). During His years of ministry He pointed out in His teaching that He had come to do His Father’s will (John 6:38) and seek and save sinners by giving His live as a ransom (Mark 10:45; Luke 19:10). As Jesus made His way south from Caesarea Philippi to Jerusalem for the last time, He warned His disciples multiple times in advance that when He got there He would “suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.” John 12:27-28 records that soon after the triumphal entry into Jerusalem Jesus told Philip and Andrew and the crowd nearby, “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? but for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Thy name.” Jesus knew the purpose for the first advent would soon be fulfilled and His humanity shows in that it troubled Him. His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane just prior to His arrest, trials and crucifixion also show His foreknowledge as deity and submission of His humanity to it saying in Matthew 26:39, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”
I point all these things out simply to show that Jesus did have a response to the incarnation, but it was a response fully aware of its purpose in the redemption of man and what it would take to bring it about. Hebrews 12:2-3 probably expresses that response best along with an encouragement to us to set aside the encumbrances and run the race of life following His example – 2 “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
That was not fatalistic resignation, it was a true understanding of the present and future so that there was an internal and abiding joy that realistically dealt with the troubles and trials of the present and yet transcended them with a solid hope set in eternity.
I encourage you to do the same. The joy of Zacharias, Mary, Elizabeth, Joseph, the angels, the shepherds, Simeon, Anna and the magi were all set in something far beyond just the birth of a child. It was due to the advent of the Messiah and the hope of redemption and its eternal promises which transcended any difficult circumstances they were facing at the present time or in the future. Jesus knew He would suffer greatly to bring about that redemption and secure God’s promises, yet He also had a joy that transcended them as He looked beyond them to the eternal blessing they would bring.
Do not let the difficult circumstances of life get you down in the present or the future. Yes, they are real, and yes, they do cause sorrow, however, the first advent of Christ gives us hope that enables us to deal with them realistically while also having an abiding joy.
Merry Christmas
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